Eternally Lost
by Dark Master Schmidt
Summary: The Sailor Senshi gain a new enemy. Turns out it's Ryouga, and he isn't too happy about it. In other news, Ranma's in the same boat, and he isn't happy about it, either.


Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the property of Takahashi Rumiko, with Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon being Takeuchi Naoko's work. This work is created purely for fun and not for profit.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, historical events, or real organisations is purely coincidental. Where the names of famous personalities, historical events, or real organisations are used, this is done to enhance this work and not intended to be seen as statements about the real-life counterparts of those persons, events, or organisations.

"..." Speech.

'...' Thoughts.

Eternally Lost

By

Dark Master Schmidt

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Chapter 1: Judging by the Book's Cover.

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A young man sat beside his campfire. Japan has been claimed by the night's darkness, and the young man had the unfortunate luck to be contained in the depths of a thick forest within this moment.

This youth indeed had better things to do than loiter around in some forest. But the inevitable circumstances forced him to linger here, as Hibiki Ryouga was lost.

Looking at the fire with mild interest, Ryouga rested his head upon a tree. It had been a rough day; he had wandered into forest right after entering Tokyo again. Entering the city then going straight out... He couldn't even find it again. Ryouga felt like an idiot for letting that happen.

Ryouga let out a sigh. No use crying over spilt milk; he'd just have to try again the next day. That was, of course, if he didn't get further from the city by doing that...

Ryouga suddenly cursed himself for that thought. He really hated being the pessimist that he was.

"Think good thoughts... Think good thoughts." Ryouga mumbled to himself. Maybe if he wasn't so sceptical about his plans, they would work. On the other hand, they did not seem to work either when he was sure of succeeding in doing something. Maybe he was destined to fail...

Ryouga frowned at his thoughts. He was being a pessimist again. "Guess I should just stop thinking..." Ryouga closed his eyes, sighing. Maybe he should just call it a day. Nothing would be solved if he stayed awake anyway.

Just then, Ryouga's senses kicked in. He firmly held the bamboo umbrella by his side, looking around cautiously. Someone was there. He did not know where exactly, but Ryouga could sense movement in the area.

The wait was frustratingly annoying. While certain of someone being near, no one was showing up. As Ryouga was about to dismiss the whole thing as his imagination, a large figure finally stepped out from behind the trees, causing Ryouga to nearly jump with an attack.

"Good evening, boy." The figure greeted him as he neared Ryouga.

Once he was close to the campfire, Ryouga could see the large figure belonged to a tall old man. He had a thick beard and long hair. He was dressed in brown robes, and he held a large wooden staff. He looked pretty old. Ryouga guessed he was in his early seventies.

Ryouga lowered his guard as he saw the old man. Although he was overly suspicious, the old man didn't seem to be a dangerous person.

"Um, hi?" Ryouga didn't really know how to react to strange old men suddenly popping up in the woods.

"Excuse my intrusion, but would you mind for an old man to join you?" He began to speak. "I seem to have gotten myself lost here."

"Well, that's fine by me, I guess..." Ryouga blinked. What an odd request. But Ryouga knew how it felt to be lost, so he didn't refuse.

"Good! Good!" The old man made himself comfortable and sat in font of Ryouga next to the warm fire. "These little old legs of mine can't take any more punishment."

Ryouga looked at his new company for moment. He really had no idea what to say.

"I hope you don't mind someone like me keeping you company." The old man chuckled a bit.

"I don't really mind, but..." Ryouga extremely curious about him and asked, "How did you get yourself here, gramps?"

The old man laughed. "I am a travelling monk. It seems I got the roads mixed up and ended up here."

"Is that so?" Ryouga looked at the old monk in disbelief. What a convenient answer that was... Something was fishy about this old man.

"Is something not to your liking, lad?"

"Nothing of the sort, it just that the last time I saw an old man in the middle of the woods..." Ryouga paused for a moment. "Well, he kinda ate all my food."

The old monk roared with laughter. "Do not worry. I'll be doing none of that!"

"That's good..." Ryouga relaxed himself against the tree. The old man may not be so bad after all.

The old man perked up. "If I may ask, boy, how did you end up here?"

"I'm just trying to get to Tokyo." Ryouga didn't bother to dignify him with a proper answer. That was enough; he really didn't want to talk about his sense of direction.

"Tokyo is not really far from here." The monk mused.

The old man's response gave Ryouga some hope. Perhaps he would finally reach Tokyo tomorrow... Yes, he would try harder to get to Nerima tomorrow. It's been nearly a month since his last visit. Ryouga really needed to get there no matter what.

"But seriously now," the old man started again. "What is the full story?"

Ryouga thought for moment before speaking. Maybe he should cut gramps some slack. It wouldn't hurt to give more details. "You could say I'm going to visit a friend."

"Hoho! Tell me more." The old man edged closer to Ryouga. "Is it a woman?"

"Well, yeah. It's a girl." Ryouga finally opened up. "I haven't seen her for a while, though."

"Ah, I see." The old man smiled. "Does she happen to be your significant other?"

"Yeah... That's what I want to think, at least." Ryouga talked to the old man. This kind of felt good. Ryouga never had someone to share his problems with.

"What do you mean?" The monk looked at him curiously. "You either love each other, or you do not."

"Yeah, I love her, but..." Ryouga hesitated.

"But what?"

"I don't think she... sees me that way." Ryouga finally blurted out. It was almost frightening. He wanted to deny that possibility at all costs, but all of the sudden, he went and said it; his worst fear.

"So it is one-sided." The old man laid out the obvious fact.

"I guess it is." Ryouga mumbled and looked away. "No matter what I do, I just can't seem to tell her how I feel. And there's this other guy..."

"Other guy?" The old man raised his eyebrows. "Do tell."

"Yeah, the other guy..." Ryouga continued. "He's, well... He's her fiancé."

"Interesting... Go on."

"Her fiancé is a big jerk, you know? He acts like a total ass around her. It almost seems like he really hates her, but in truth, I think he actually likes her a bit. Well, maybe not just a bit... He did go out of his way to save her life. He even risked his own while doing so. You know what I'm saying?" Ryouga looked back at the old man to see if he was paying attention.

"Yes, yes. Go on." The old man urged the boy to continue.

"As I was saying..." Ryouga continued. "I think he cares about her, despite the way he acts. And as for her... Well, she seems to care about him, too. I don't know what she sees in that jerk; I don't know why she would like him, but she does. And what about me? I'm nothing to her!" Ryouga stared at the ground. "No matter what I do; no matter how hard I try, I can never get her to notice me. I send her gifts; I send her letters, but nothing! I'm nothing more than her helpful friend.

"I even tried to impress her with the only thing I can do: martial arts. But you know what?" Ryouga raised his head once more. His voice was beginning to break. "That bastard is good at it, too! In fact, I can't even beat him! Well, actually, I did beat him a few times, but he always came back and won the rematch. Maybe I could argue that our last fight ended in a draw, but who the hell am I kidding? He managed to beat my most powerful technique! Argh!!" Ryouga yelled in frustration.

"Hmm..." The old man pondered at the boy's story. "I am afraid this is entirely your doing, boy."

Ryouga listened bitterly.

"I am still in the dark of many details, but I think you should have been more honest with your feelings." The old man looked at him sharply. "That other boy, what is his name?"

"Oh, him? His name is Saotome Ranma." Ryouga answered him in his depressed voice. He didn't even bother to look at the monk now.

"Saotome Ranma..." The old man muttered the name. For a moment, he looked as if he was in deep thought. "Fight me, boy."

"_What_?" Ryouga looked back at the old man as if he went insane. "What's that all of a sudden?"

"I said fight me!" The old man swiftly stabbed with the edge of his staff at where Ryouga used to be, obliterating the tree.

Ryouga looked at him in shock. He had barely moved away from the blow. Ryouga quickly proceeded to move away from the old man's range. "What the _hell_ is wrong with you, old man?!" He shouted in disbelief. What was once a nice old man seemed to turn to a dangerous lunatic.

The old man stood and laughed at Ryouga's reaction. "Oh, I am perfectly fine, Ryouga. That was very good, by the way. You have nice reflexes."

"How do you know my name?" Ryouga eyed his umbrella for a second. It was still near where that tree used to be; basically, right next to the old man's feet. Fighting unarmed against an armed opponent was generally a bad idea, but Ryouga did not have much of a choice, did he? He stood there in front of him warily, making sure he was ready for any sudden movements.

"How is unnecessary." The old man smirked. "I know many things about you, Ryouga. Now, fight me. Prove yourself worthy."

Ryouga growled. He didn't have a clue on what he was talking about, but if it's a fight he wanted, then a fight he shall get. "You asked for it!" Ryouga made a quick sprint towards his opponent and lashed with a punch.

The old man casually whirled his staff around his hand and blocked the punch with ease. "Try harder."

Growling, Ryouga increased his speed and showered the old man with an onslaught of punches. However, all of his attempts to hit the older man failed miserably, as the old man simply matched Ryouga's speed. Ryouga immediately followed with a sweep kick that the old man blocked with another whirl of his staff.

"Not bad." The old man hit Ryouga's forehead with his staff, sending him flying and flattening him onto a tree. "That was very good, actually. Show me more."

Ryouga groaned as he held his forehead. Despite hitting him across his bandanna, that hit had hurt an awful lot. He was actually having difficulty standing thanks to the daze he was experiencing. "I'll show you more, all right..." Ryouga sent two chi-infused bandannas flying towards his attacker at blinding speeds.

Having seen them coming, the old man twirled his staff to block. To his surprise, the projectiles seemed to flying right through it, landing harshly on both of his shoulders. The old man cried in pain as blood splattered from his injured shoulders. Falling to one knee, the old man looked at where his staff had failed him. "Hmm?!" His staff was cleanly cut on both sides.

Seeing his attack connect, Ryouga ignored his aching head with the best of his ability. With his belt in hand, he showered it with his chi and leapt at the injured old man with downward slash.

The old man leapt backwards and away from the attack within the last second. Ryouga didn't let him get the chance to recover, though, as he instantly went after him with another downward vertical slash.

Still, the old man managed to sidestep the attack, and proceeded to dodge all of the subsequent slashes thrown by Ryouga. It didn't seem his injuries had any major affect on his performance.

Ryouga's frustration was growing with each swing of his belt. No matter how many times he attacked, he could never land a single hit on the old man. Then Ryouga had an idea. Swiftly shifting his grip to his left hand, Ryouga slashed upwards towards the old man's left side, causing him dodge to the right. Ryouga immediately followed with a kick in that direction with all his might.

Unable to dodge, the old man raised his hands to block with his open palms. However, whether the kick was blocked or not was irrelevant. The force of the strike was more than enough to send the old man flying backwards, knocking down several trees in the process.

"Shit..." Ryouga gasped for his breath. That old man was too damn persistent. That last hit just _had_ to have inflicted _some_ damage.

The sound of mad laughter echoed within the forest.

"What the hell?" Ryouga found the old man standing some metres away, laughing his head off. Damn, that old fart was still up. It didn't seem like he was even fazed by that last kick, let alone hurt him.

"I am overly impressed!!" The old man's laughter died within his chuckles. Suddenly, a strong blue light lit up the dark forest, revealing the old man with a most horrifying grin on his face. That grin didn't really matter, though. What mattered was the small blue sphere floating just above the old man's extended palm.

That thing seemed to be some sort of energy, but Ryouga couldn't sense any chi coming out the old man. Whatever that thing was, it's bound to be bad news.

"And now for the main event!!" The old man's shouts echoed around Ryouga. "Fetch, boy!" The old man threw the ball at blinding speed.

Ryouga only saw a bluish blur before experiencing the most unimaginable pain he had the misfortune to experience. Ryouga was instantly downed to the ground, screaming in agony as he wrapped his arms around his body.

Standing before the pained boy, the old man sniggered smugly as Ryouga writhed in pain.

Now Ryouga was used to pain, but this was incredible. Never in his life had the thought that this sort of physical pain even existed. He felt his insides burning. It was almost as if his own bones were melting. "ARGH!!" Ryouga struggled to glare the old man. "What... the hell... did you do?"

The old man grinned wickedly. "Do not worry, boy. It should be over any second now."

The old man spoke the truth. Seconds afterwards, Ryouga felt the pain disappear as the blue light around him faded. Breathing heavily, Ryouga shakily got back on his feet, glaring daggers at the old man as he did so.

"What-" Ryouga stopped his question, his eyes widened in surprise. His voice was different! He looked down at his remarkably smaller hands and almost yelped. In fact his whole body was significantly smaller that it should be. "What the _hell_ did you do to me?"

"Oh, I have merely shrunk you into a twelve-year-old boy." The old man laughed like it was the most natural thing, and held Ryouga's much smaller head with one hand. "I am not done yet, though."

Before Ryouga could resist, he was caught by surprise by green light emitting from under the old man's palm. The light consumed him, although there was no pain this time. The feeling was almost... refreshing, soothing. But unlike his last experience, this one didn't last for long.

As soon as the light had appeared, the light suddenly vanished, and Ryouga found that the old man had backed away.

"You..." Ryouga growled. "What the hell did you do this time?"

"Many things." The old man sneered smugly. "However, I am going to let you figure that out by yourself."

"You son of a..." Ryouga's growls grew harsher. "I'm going to..." He felt himself become angrier. After what he did... how can he not be angry? His life was over. "I'm going to kill you!!" Ryouga's green aura exploded like an angry flame. Ryouga was going to kill the old man, and he meant it.

"Hoho!" The old man crossed his arms and chuckled in amusement. "It is working already."

"Shut up!" Ryouga waved his arms furiously. "SHUT THE HELL UP!!" Ryouga collected his chi between his palms. "Just shut up and die!! Shishi Hokodan!!" Arms extended, Ryouga shot the largest beam of chi in his life.

The old man marvelled at the chi being released. The blast was easily bigger than his whole body. That thing must have been at least 4 metres in diameter! "Magnificent!" The old man whispered before taking the blast head on with open arms, as if welcoming it. Granted, that was painful. So painful that he couldn't scream. So painful that he felt his left arm crumble to nothing.

As the smoke and dust finally cleared, Ryouga stared at the old man in awe. He was still standing; his left arm was missing and sprinkling blood like a broken fountain, and the skin on his face seemed like it has been ripped off. Moreover, he was laughing his head off.

"Magnificent! This is simply magnificent!" The old man roared. "It seems that I have made the perfect choice!"

'Choice? What the hell is that old fool talking about? Did he lose his mind?' Ryouga readied himself for another blast, intent of finishing him off.

The old man suddenly smirked to himself and sent a strange beam of light towards the sky.

"What the..." Ryouga tried to balance himself as the ground suddenly shook violently. Looking up towards the sky, he saw that beam of light began to expand into a huge irregular shape. And with one last glow, a city appeared within that irregular shape.

"Beyond that window lies another world, boy." The old man started. "Now go! And do not disappoint me!"

"Like hell I will!" Ryouga glared at him in response. "Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?"

"I am afraid you have no choice in the matter, boy." The old man spread his arms dramatically. "This is your new life! This is your destiny!"

"Destiny my- Argh!" A sudden strong gush of wind sent Ryouga flying. "What's going on?" From the ground, Ryouga saw the old man laughing at his predicament.

"This is your destiny!" Those were the last words Ryouga heard before he saw himself falling from above a large city.

Ryouga groaned as he fell harshly on top of a parked car. "Shit... Wait!" He got off to stare at the sky, only to find out that the door to his world was long gone. "No..." Ryouga whispered. "No! No! No!!" Ryouga stomped on the ground, furious. He felt his strength fade eventually, and then sank into a sitting position.

Facing downwards, Ryouga heard the sky roar. As rain followed, he ignored the world, not even noticing the lack of his form changing. Ryouga could only grit his teeth, and stare at himself in self-pity.

After all, Ryouga's life was over. He was no longer the man he used to be, but a mere boy; and that wasn't even the end of it. Ryouga was trapped in another world by himself. The parents he rarely saw weren't there... The few acquaintances he knew weren't there... The even fewer friends he had weren't there... Not even his damn rival was there!

Ryouga had nothing. Ryouga only had loneliness; true loneliness. Being constantly lost paled in comparison to this loneliness. Ryouga had nothing to live for.

Facing ahead, Ryouga finally took notice of the rain. He did not care. Ryouga stood with newfound energy. The depression glowing around him ironically made him stronger. He saw that his pack was missing, which added to his depression. Even his means to survive wasn't there. Smiling bitterly, he raised his hand to his forehead. At least he had his...

Ryouga only felt skin touch his hand. He remembered that he had used the last of his bandannas in the last fight. And also, his bandanna wasn't there... What did Ryouga have left? At least he still had his big clothes, which was only hardly a positive in this predicament.

Scowling, Ryouga trudged aimlessly into an empty street. An occasional car would nosily complain, but the angry driver would suddenly back off from the glowing boy.

Ryouga took notice to none of it. Everything had lost its meaning to him. He trudged on with seemingly unfocused eyes upon the street. In actuality, his eyes were focused in the droplets of rain that showered the street.

Ryouga's curse was gone. That fact finally clicked in his head. Even his curse wasn't there... Something he hated wasn't there... Did he not even deserve the reminiscence of his curse?

Shifting the focus of his eyes, Ryouga noticed that he had stumbled into a park. The park was well-lit. Ryouga could move around with ease. But that was irrelevant.

Ryouga blinked unsteadily at a large monstrous figure that howled within the park. Standing several metres in front of him was the most absurd thing he had ever seen.

Standing at around 10 metres in height, a red monster with large claws shrieked. It had inhumanly large muscles. Its mouth had no lips, which revealed its sharp teeth. At its feet a man shivered in fear. His words did not make sense. It seemed like he had had lost the ability to speak within his fear. His words were nothing more than stutters.

Ryouga's body was frozen. He was not scared. Ryouga could sense no fear within him. He didn't know why, but he wasn't moving. The monster didn't seem even aware of his presence. Normally, he would do something, but Ryouga only stood there and watched.

As the monster raised one of its arms, the man went for the smallest chance of survival. Turning sharply, the man took off with the best of his ability.

But he was too slow. By the time the man had turned, the monster had already sunk its claws into his back. With the man dug between its claws, the monster waved him around, seemingly amused. All the while the man was screaming in his horror. Putting him on the ground, the monster stepped on his body and pulled violently, dragging with its claws multiple pieces of the man's innards, along with a splash of blood to spray the ground with.

The man was quiet by this point. He was finally dead.

Ryouga could feel something swell up inside him at the scene. His lips formed a small smile, but it quickly transformed into a scowl. He was amused? Ryouga couldn't believe it. No, that was impossible. But then why hadn't he saved that man? Why did he simply stand there? Ryouga held his head in frustration and whispered, "What the fuck is wrong with me...?"

Ryouga raised his face and came in direct eye contact with the monster. "What the hell do _you_ want?" He asked the monster calmly, his aura sparkling even brighter.

The monster growled loudly in response, outraged. It slashed with its claws instantly at the small boy.

"Feh." Ryouga leapt away from its claws with a snarl. "Don't screw with me!! I had enough shit for one day!" Raising his arms, Ryouga shot his most devastating day back at the monster. "Die, you piece of shit! SHISHI HOKODAN!!"

The monster never stood a chance. It could only shriek in agony at receiving the blast from point-blank range. The Shishi Hokodan was barely bigger than the monster itself, but it did more than enough damage to severely hurt it.

"Still alive?" Ryouga watched as the monster stood again, this time in a bloody mess. Howling in anger, it lunged at Ryouga again, fully intent on skewering him with its claws.

Ryouga sidestepped the first slash, but got hit by the following backhand from the monster. Thanks to his small figure, he was easily sent flying across the park and into a street light. Ryouga quickly got back to his feet, ignoring his bleeding forehead. "That son of a bitch!!" Ryouga's aura flared at the sight of the monster approaching him at top speed.

Ryouga stood still and focused on his horrible day, his loneliness, his anguish, and that damn monster that's about to chop his head off.

"Shishi..." Ryouga whispered.

The monster leapt above him, following with a swing of both of its arms at full strength. But it was too late.

"HOKODAN!!" Ryouga released the biggest one yet.

The monster only got to see Ryouga's anguished face before being consumed by a large ascending beam of chi. As the monster howled in pain, Ryouga felt blood sprinkle all over his face and torso, but paid it no heed.

After the blast had fully passed through the monster, it had fallen down with harsh thud. The monster writhed on the ground in pain, missing both of its arms and a leg. But it was not over.

A large shadow befell them. It progressively got bigger, until gravity eventually finished its job and slammed the risen chi blast right back at them.

Moments passed, and Ryouga finally snapped out of his reverie. Looking at his opponent, all he found was ash. "Humph." He looked around him, finding everything within 30 metres utterly demolished. "A new record." Ryouga gazed at the crater he just created. But something wasn't right. That Shishi Hokodan had been ridiculously large, even for Ryouga. He never shot one close to that size. Even the one he earlier shot at the monster was bigger than the norm.

"Whatever." Ryouga raised his head at the centre of the large crater. He let the rain wash away the blood on his face. He was still pretty depressed, despite shooting that large Shishi Hokodan, which maintained his flaming aura. The more he remembered his current predicament, the more depressed he got. Ryouga felt like he could shoot another one already. In fact, he was going to do just that. The stress was too overwhelming anyway.

"HA!!" Ryouga obliterated a random tree into nothing with another Shishi Hokodan. This time it was significantly smaller, but still bigger than the norm. Ryouga looked at his hands and began to wonder. "What the hell did that geezer do to me?" Ryouga growled. "When I get my hands on him, I'll _kill_ him..."

Kill him? Ryouga got an interesting thought. No, he wasn't going to kill him. He would make him suffer. He'd make him suffer so badly that he would practically _beg_ for death. Ryouga began to chuckle. The tone was disgusting. Even he thought that, but he couldn't help it. The thought of utterly destroying that old geezer was good, maybe too good.

"What the hell happened here?"

Ryouga suddenly stopped at the new voice. He turned and stared in shock. If there was something more disturbing than that monster, it had to be this.

There, at the edge of the crater, stood two girls, looking at Ryouga in similar shock. One of them was a tall girl with long brown hair held in a ponytail. The other had much longer black hair. Both were dressed in similar Sailor Seifuku uniforms. About the only difference was the colour. The one with brown hair had a green theme to her clothes, while for the other, it was red. And those skirts were disturbingly short...

Ryouga blinked in disbelief. "What the hell are those two wearing?"

"Are you sure that's the youma? Looks like a kid to me!" The girl clad in girl yelled.

"Youma?" Ryouga whispered to himself.

"Well, he _did_ shoot some weird green beam just now." The other girl turned to Ryouga. "You! Were you the one who caused this?"

Ryouga raised an eyebrow at the question. "And what if I am?" Ryouga asked with a frown. That girl's attitude was starting to piss him off.

"In that case," The girl took a fighting stance, with the other soon following. "I, Sailor Mars, shall chastise you!"

"Are these guys for real?" Ryouga looked at them warily.

"Fire Soul!!" A strange fire attack suddenly burst out from Sailor Mars' finger tips and flew towards Ryouga.

"What the hell?" Ryouga made a hasty leap backwards, barely avoiding the fireball. Twisting his face into an awful grimace, Ryouga prepared to attack. His day just kept getting worse and worse. Moreover, Ryouga needed to be careful of that fire attack. Even under the heavy rain, it kept advancing like a raging behemoth.

'But what about the other one?' Ryouga shifted her eyes to the other girl. He hadn't seen her attack yet. 'Whatever. I'll just get rid of the fire chick first.' Ryouga jumped into a sudden sprint towards the two.

"That little..." Mars readied herself for another attack. "Fire Soul!!"

Ryouga evaded the second fireball and lunged at Sailor Mars, fully intent on making her eat the dirt at her feet. However, he ended up being caught by surprise.

"Supreme Thunder!"

"What?!" Ryouga saw the other girl suddenly send some sort of energy attack right at him. He never had the chance to react in accordance, and took the blow head on. The attack sent him sprawling harshly on the ground.

"Good job, Sailor Jupiter!" Mars cheered. "Now let's finish him off!"

"Yeah, he actually fell for it."

Ryouga groaned as his muscles continued to have spasms. 'That was part of their plan?!' Ryouga felt like an idiot, which made him furious. He couldn't believe he fell for it. He should have been more careful. Was he going to lose to those morons? The mere thought infuriated him.

Ignoring his convulsing muscles, Ryouga stood once more to face the female fighters. "Damn bitches. You're _so_ going to get it this time." Ryouga's eyes had a crazy gleam.

"Mars, he looks weakened. Let's hit him both at once." Jupiter began her attack.

"Right." Mars immediately followed her lead.

"Supreme Thunder!"

"Fire Soul!"

Ryouga quickly reacted and avoided both attacks. "Weakened my ass!" Growling, Ryouga punched Mars square in the face, sending her whirling on the ground like a rag doll.

"Mars!" Jupiter charged at the Hibiki boy with a punch of her own. "You little...!"

Ryouga swiftly dodged the punch. Before Jupiter could do a follow up attack, Ryouga sent two punches to her face, causing her to land roughly on the ground with a small crater upon impact. Ryouga didn't stop there; he followed with an axe kick right into her abdomen. He proceeded to send several kicks on her fallen figure, with each kick growing stronger with more force behind it. He finished the kicks off by stepping on her stomach with one foot.

As he increased the strength put into his foot, Ryouga got an interesting idea. He latched his hands around the whimpering girl's neck, and dragged her up to his eye level.

"Ugh..." Sailor Jupiter started to choke as Ryouga increased his strength. She tried to pull his arms away from her to no avail. The smaller boy was too strong.

"That was bad move, picking a fight with me." Ryouga told her darkly, slowly increasing the strength behind his grip. "Die."

Jupiter began to resist violently. She seriously needed to get oxygen into her system. She thrashed violently with her arms, but her efforts met with failure. No form of resistance was enough to even faze the small boy. Jupiter could almost feel the life slip out of her as her strength weakened. She couldn't even utter an attack to save her hide. Her voice was starting to vanish; her unintelligible groans grew weaker. Was this the end for her?

Ryouga's face was horrible. With a wicked smile on his face, his eyes proclaimed glee. As he was suffocating the girl, he felt relieved. Killing her felt good, very pleasing.

"You bastard!!" Sailor Mars finally wailed behind him, covered in mud and dirt. "Fire Soul!!" Mars released another fireball without much thought.

As the fireball approached, Ryouga smirk cunningly. "Idiot." He swiftly threw his victim right towards the raging fire.

Sailor Jupiter didn't even scream as she impacted wit the fire. As much as she wanted, she lacked that ability thanks to her throat nearly getting crushed. Fortunately, the rain had grown heavier, helping her from the fire.

"Oh, shit! Jupiter!" Mars rushed to aid her companion. Unfortunately, Ryouga had none of it.

While she was distracted, Ryouga took the opportunity to get Sailor Mars out of the picture. "Where do you think you're going?" Ryouga suddenly leapt in front of her.

"You..." Mars narrowed her eyes at the boy. "Fire-" Before she could execute her attack, Mars received another punch to the face.

Ryouga had no one else to occupy his attention this time, and sent a shower of punches her way. Mars couldn't even keep up with his punches, let alone attempt to block or counter attack. She was completely hopeless.

With one last punch, he grabbed her by the neck before she could get flattened to the earth. Raising her upwards with one arm, he contemplated his next action. Her resistance did little to nothing to his strong grip.

Looking back at Jupiter, Ryouga found her still gasping for air. To be fair, it must have been very hard to breathe under the heavy rain, especially after nearly suffocating to her death. But, she eventually rose again to her feet.

Having Jupiter back in the playground again, Ryouga decided to get rid of Mars. With little strength, he sent her upwards and gave her a mighty punch in the abdomen. Sailor Mars was sent through a wall of bricks, and did not stop until hitting her second wall. She slipped back to solid earth, unconscious. Ryouga noted the high amount of blood slipping from her head.

These girls were able to take an incredible amount of punishment, Ryouga mused. A normal person would have been long dead by now.

"You... You bastard..." Jupiter uttered weakly. Her throat was still in pain, but she'd live.

Ryouga simply stood his ground and watched her actions.

"Supreme Thunder!!" Sailor Jupiter threw another electrical bolt towards the small boy.

As Ryouga prepared himself to evade, something amazing happened. The attack merely travelled half the distance before vanishing from sight.

Jupiter widened her eyes in shock.

Ryouga scanned the distanced between them, lost in thought. 'Is she weakening?' Looking at the muddy ground, he saw some sparks of electricity flicker momentarily. No, it was something else. "Oh, I get it." Ryouga grinned. It didn't take long for him to figure it out. "The rain absorbed your attack, didn't it?"

Jupiter responded with a rather scornful stare. "Damn it..." The boy was correct. Mars' Fire Soul was strong enough to evaporate most of the rain before getting extinguished. Her Supreme Thunder, on the other hand, was conducted easily by water, especially by rain this heavy. He was close enough to hit earlier, but this time...

"So you're pretty much useless under the rain." Ryouga advanced slowly at her. Lightening flashed behind him, giving him an eerie image.

"Useless?" Jupiter readied herself once more, much to Ryouga's annoyance. "Try this on for size! Supreme Thunder Dragon!!"

Ryouga faltered at the sight. From the girl's puny fingertips emerged more thunder; however, this time it took shape of a large raging dragon.

"What the hell?!" Ryouga retreated further from the girl hastily. However, the dragon was relentless, showing no signs of stopping, nor was it hindered by the rain. On the other hand, Ryouga had no time to panic.

Getting an idea, Ryouga readied himself to fire another Shishi Hokodan. After its mysterious increase in power, he figured it would be more than enough to stop that thing.

His control over his chi came to him naturally. Thoughts of death, defeat, and his current predicament flashed through his mind accordingly.

"Shishi Hokodan!!" Ryouga fired his fifth chi blast this day. The large ball of chi advanced rapidly at the raging dragon.

Upon impact, a deafening explosion sent both fighters soaring through the air. Ryouga twisted in midair, landing back on his feet. Sailor Jupiter wasn't as lucky, though. Thanks to her bad shape, she landed harshly to her side.

"Damn you..." Sailor Jupiter was barely standing again. She needed to think of something. Regular spells were hindered under the heavy rain, and he was able to stop the Supreme Thunder Dragon with that weird energy he was emitting. To top that off, the kid was too strong. She might have broken a rib or two from those nasty kicks earlier...

"Sailor Jupiter!!" A shriek called her name.

Jupiter recognised that voice. She smiled and turned to a group of three other girls, exclaiming, "Sailor Moon!" She was unsure if they heard that; her voice was somewhat weak. "What... took you guys so long?" She struggled to trudge in their direction.

'There are more of them?' Ryouga grimaced at the sight. Just when he thought he'd get this over with soon, more weirdoes in similar attire showed up.

"What happened to you?" A girl in short blue hair exclaimed. "And where's Mars?"

"Sailor Mercury..." Jupiter turned to her. "Be careful... That guy... too strong... Took out Mars..." Jupiter spoke in pieces. Something was wrong with her throat; speech was starting to feel painful.

"My God!! How dare he do that!" A blonde with long hair suddenly marched forwards, an angry look on her face.

"Sailor Venus, wait!" Mercury tried to stop her, but Venus was already preparing to attack.

"Crescent Beam!!" Pointing at Ryouga, her fingertip momentarily lit up and a sudden beam flew towards Ryouga.

"Eh?" Ryouga barely sidestepped from the bright beam of light. Growling, he prepared to attack, but another beam was sent right at him.

"Crescent Beam!" Venus shot another. This time, however, it landed right on his left shoulder.

"Ugh!" Ryouga cried out. Those things were pretty fast, and they really hurt. He was getting annoyed at having a bunch of girls jumping out of nowhere and attacking him for no relatively good reason. Ryouga had better get rid of that Venus or whatever she was called quickly.

Buckling up, Ryouga danced around the next storm of her attacks. She wasn't giving him the chance to advance.

"Here, I'll support you!" Sailor Mercury suddenly jumped on the bandwagon, much to Ryouga's vexation. "Shabon Spray!"

The rain around Ryouga suddenly turned into thick mist, and his vision suffered because of it. According to his ears, the rain was still pouring heavily around him, however.

"Venus Love-Me Chain!!"

A sudden bright chain of some sort came flying threw the mist and latched itself around Ryouga, limiting his movements. Another sudden pull and Ryouga was sent back into the rain and onto the muddy ground.

"Sailor Moon, now!!" Venus yelled.

"Right!" Sailor Moon prepared herself to what Ryouga assumed attack. "Moon Tiara..."

"Shit!" Ryouga began to struggle within the chains violently. The more he struggled, the tighter the chains seemed to become. But he had to do something before Sailor Moon threw that weird glowing disc that she started to manifest right at him.

Looking up upwards hastily, he saw that Sailor Venus was standing right in front of him.

"...Action!" The disc flew from her hand and towards Ryouga.

Ryouga didn't know how much damage that would inflict on him, and he didn't care enough to find out. Ryouga quickly mustered all his strength to his feet, and leapt, nailing Venus with a head butt. His smaller body allowed him to barely evade getting hit.

Caught by surprise, Venus loosened the chain from around the boy.

Ryouga wasted no time and freed himself from her grasp. Paying the others no heed, he kicked Venus in the face, sending her slamming into a destroyed bus. He heard something loudly crack as soon as his foot connected. Ryouga guessed her cheek bones broke upon impact.

"Who's next?" Ryouga turned to the remaining three. They faltered at his scowl. Scanning the area closely, he saw that Jupiter had actually fallen unconscious some metres away. Ryouga made a random choice and lunged with an axe kick at the blue-haired girl before they could get the chance to attack.

Mercury barely had the chance to react. She successfully evaded the kick, but was too slow to do anything for the follow up one-two her stomach earned.

Now slightly airborne, Ryouga sent another large Shishi Hokodan her way, sending her flying several metres upwards. Moments later, she came back crashing down with a loud thud, unconscious.

"It's just you now." Ryouga advanced at the remaining girl slowly, frowning.

Sailor Moon nervously cowered away from the strong boy. Having seen her comrades fall one after the other crushed her resolve. As she backed away, she tripped onto the muddy ground.

Ryouga towered over Sailor Moon under the rain, much to her chagrin. Thunder and lightening aided the presentation of his uncanny appearance to her. For the time being, he did nothing; he merely watched her pathetic appearance towards him.

Shivering in fright, she tried to crawl away from the smaller boy. Before she could accomplish much, Ryouga grabbed her by the shirt and raised her upwards. She did not resist, but wailed at the sudden action.

"Why did you attack me?" Ryouga asked her clearly. To his irritation, Sailor Moon only stuttered nonsense as a reply. "Maybe I should kill you then..." His threat caused the girl to sob louder.

Ryouga moved his eyes around him. He had a fascinating idea. Those girls were all nearby; if he were to pull another perfect Shishi Hokodan, what would happen? With the new increase in size and power of the Shishi Hokodan, he would kill them all, especially with their current poor condition.

...Yes, they were all going to die.

Ryouga gathered his chi once more. The more he did it, the easier it felt to do so. But this was going to be the last time to use it this day. Just once more and he would kill his enemies.

'Kill...?' Something suddenly clicked in Ryouga's mind. His concentration on his chi broke off immediately and his aura finally died off. He was going to kill them? But that would make Ryouga a...

Looking at the crying girl he was holding, Ryouga felt disgusted and simply released his grip on her. "What the hell is wrong with me?" Ryouga muttered to himself, walking away from his victim.

Sailor Moon cowered at Ryouga's sudden change in behaviour, thinking he might have planned something worse. As a result, his next words came to her as a surprise.

Ryouga stopped and said, "Don't show your fucking faces to me ever again." He trudged away from the battle zone, disappearing into the falling rain.

Ryouga wandered aimlessly. He did not know where to go, nor did he have any place to go to. He did not think; he merely walked on. Frankly, he did not want to think. After the stunt he nearly pulled, it was safer not to think. Thinking brought nothing but trouble.

An unknown city in an unknown world; how was Ryouga going to fit into this universe? On the surface, it seemed no different than his own world, but it still felt alien to him.

Ryouga was getting tired. Whilst Ryouga was originally planning to sleep, he ended up fighting several battles instead. With a definite plan in mind, he searched for a suitable place to spend the night.

He searched from street to street. Normally, a park or an empty lot would do just fine. But it was raining, and Ryouga lacked his supplies. Without his tent, he was forced to look for shelter elsewhere.

After around 30 minutes of wandering, Ryouga finally found a good enough spot. Walking into an alleyway next to an arcade, he sat to rest his tired muscles. He leaned against the wall, and stretched his arms and legs. Thanks to the design, the rain seldom got in this alleyway. The only problem was the cold. Sleeping in this cold weather was not pleasant, but there wasn't much Ryouga could do about that.

Ryouga's recent behaviour was scaring him. That man had suffered a horrible death, and Ryouga did not do anything about it. He had just stood there, watching him get slaughtered before his eyes. That was not even the worst of it...

Ryouga latched his arms around himself.

He liked it. He liked watching him get killed. Ryouga felt no pity for his death. The experience of watching a person die was exhilarating. But that was not right... He was not supposed to be feeling this way...

Rough wind blew past him, sending some droplets of water onto Ryouga.

There was also the battle with those weird girls. He had felt no remorse for beating the living daylights out of them. He even attempted to kill them.

Ryouga usually held back whenever he fought. Not everyone was as strong as him or Ranma, so as to avoid accidents, he did not go all out on the spot. Going as far as to kill someone was not something Ryouga approved of doing. In fact, he admonished it. He...

Ryouga gritted his teeth.

He was not a murderer...

---

"So how did it go?" A woman in black asked, her face concealed by the hood of her dark cloak; the space of darkness around her mystifying her further.

"It went splendidly well, my lady." The old man bowed respectfully in her presence. He was in full health, showing no traces of the previous battle. "I may have chosen the perfect candidate. I am certain he would be worthy of your high expectations."

"Is that so? Then I shall take you up on that claim." She said in her husky voice. "Do not disappoint my faith in you."

"Certainly not. I am honoured to have such faith." He smiled. "I also bring good news, my lady. I have found a potential second candidate already."

"Then make haste, wizard." She told him sternly. "Time is short."

"Very well, my lady." The old man gave her his back. "If I may be excused..." With those last words, he instantly vanished from her sight.

The old man chuckled at his surroundings.

Under the moonlight; upon the streets of Nerima walked the old man elegantly. He was in quite a good mood.

"Such a perfectly fabulous night..." He chuckled. "...to wreck more havoc in, of course."

The old man walked behind a street light, but what passed it was a short teenage girl.

The girl giggled. "This will be such a fascinating night indeed."

---

Ranma felt a shiver run up his spine.

"What the heck was that?" He exclaimed, interrupting his usual night workout at the dojo. Ranma didn't find anything overly suspicious around. "Musta been imaginin' things." He tried to reassure himself, but still didn't feel right. It was almost as if his instincts were telling him something bad had happened, or maybe there was something bad was about to happen...

Ranma tried to focus again on his workout. A short while later, his concentration broke again. "What the hell..." Ranma grumbled in annoyance. No, it was not his imagination. There was something... Something was provoking him. It's not like it was speaking to him, but Ranma could strangely feel it. Whatever it was, it wanted him to go out.

"Ah, whatever. Fine!" Ranma gave in, walking out of the dojo and back into the house. That thing made him feel restless; he needed to get rid of it, whatever it was.

Ranma quickly passed by the kitchen, catching Kasumi's attention.

"Ranma? Are you going out?" Kasumi looked at the boy as he slipped into his shoes.

"Yeah, I'll be out for a bit." Ranma answered, standing again.

"But dinner is going to be ready soon!"

"Don't worry about it; it's probably nothing. I'll be back real quick." Ranma opened the door and rushed outside.

"Probably nothing...?" Kasumi blinked at the closed door, wondering what the martial artist had meant by those words. "I guess I'll save some for Ranma..." Kasumi sighed and went back to work.

---

Ranma ran across the streets of Nerima.

Something was calling him. It wanted him to search for the caller. Ranma could feel it; the desire that led him outside was unnatural. It made his instincts scream at him; they ordered him to search, guiding him. They were glaring and hard to ignore; to the point it was painful.

Ranma turned from one corner after another. It was almost as if he knew where he was going. Ranma didn't think much of it and merely went where he thought was the correct path.

Ranma finally jumped over a fence, landing into an empty parking lot. The lights did their job perfectly; the lot was clearly visible. On the other hand, there was nothing in it. Ranma walked slowly around, checking the place cautiously.

The sensation was gone. Ranma couldn't feel the caller anymore. That was somewhat irritating. To come all the way here to find nothing was simply galling.

"What a waste of time..." Ranma muttered. On the other hand, it was a bit crazy, going out simply because of a strange feeling. "And ta think I missed dinner 'cause of this crap... Ah well, might as well head back."

Ranma lazily trudged to the exit, facing downwards as he did so. 'But I was _sure_ I felt something...'

"Oh, hey! Are you Saotome Ranma?" A new voice nearly caused Ranma to jump.

"What the heck?" Ranma blinked. A girl around his age was standing right at the entrance. She had her long dark hair held into a ponytail. She wore a bright white sundress and a pair of matching shoes. Across her pretty face was a wide smile.

"I'm right, aren't I?" She laughed and rushed to Ranma.

"Um, yeah. So?" Ranma was confused. A girl he never saw before in his life suddenly was glad to see him. Wait... A girl he didn't know? And she was glad to see him to boot? That can't be good!! "Hey! Hey! Hold on!" Ranma suddenly backed away. "Who the heck are you? If you're just another fiancé, then I'm sorry, toots. I already got three of 'em and I ain't got no need for another one."

The girl blinked for a second, and then giggled uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?" Ranma asked, confused.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to laugh." The girl finally stopped herself. "My name is Nagase Reiko. I'm a martial artist from the neighbouring town and I'm your biggest fan!" She beamed cheerfully.

"Oh, I see." Ranma calmed down. "Wait, you're _what_? You're kidding."

"No way!" Reiko shook her head. "I really am! I've seen you fight several times. You're very cool and strong."

Ranma looked at her for one second, and then grinned like an idiot for another. "Of course I'm cool and strong. I _am_ the best!" Ranma's ego proclaimed. He proceeded to laugh his ass off.

Reiko giggled at his reaction. "I can't believe how lucky I am. I'm glad I got to meet you personally, Saotome-san."

"You just said you saw me fight. Why didn't you say anything then?"

"It's strange." She smiled. "I couldn't get myself to say anything at those times, but having seeing you now, I feel freer when I speak."

"I think I get it." Ranma nodded. "But hey, anyone who can appreciate the art is a friend of mine, so ya can speak to me anytime if ya want!" Ranma ravished.

"That's good to know, Saotome-san." Reiko said cheerfully.

"Just call me Ranma." He laughed.

"All right, Ranma-san..." There was a mysterious gleam in her eyes, but that vanished quickly. "So I hope you don't mind if I ask you some questions?"

"What kinda questions?" Ranma asked.

"Nothing big; just a few things about the art."

"In that case, this Saotome Ranma will be more than happy to give his advice!!" Ranma grinned. "It's good to see that someone finally appreciates my great skills. Akane should learn somethin' or two from you."

"Akane?" Reiko asked in wonder. "Is she strong?"

"Nah. Don't mind that uncute gorilla." Ranma dismissed her with a hand gesture. "She's as dumb as a brick. Only thing she's good for is breaking bricks." Ranma laughed at his own joke.

"Ah, I see..." Reiko pondered. "In that case, is there anyone you acknowledge as strong?"

"Well..." Ranma thought for a moment. "I happen to fight regularly with this Ryouga guy. He's pretty good." Then Ranma quickly added, "Nowhere near as good as me, of course!"

"Is there anyone else?" She asked impatiently.

"Well, there's Mousse. He's kinda decent, I guess. Shampoo ain't so bad, either." Ranma dug his mind for answers. "Pop is pretty good, too."

"Is there anyone you have lost to?" She asked sharply.

"Saotome Ranma never loses." Ranma let his ego do the talking again. "Well, recently this one guy, Kumon Ryuu, kinda beat me, but I kicked his ass afterwards. Same thing happened with Herb. So it doesn't really count."

"I see." Reiko beamed. "You're amazing, Ranma-san."

"Of course I'm amazing! You're talking to the _best_ here!!" Ranma cackled.

"Is that so?" Reiko suddenly grinned. She walked some distance away from Ranma and said, "That is very nice. But there is something else I want to know." The sudden change of her tone caused Ranma to stop. Reiko hurled something towards him.

Ranma caught it, but instantly regretted that action. Leaving the dagger to fall from his hand, Ranma looked at his own blood in shock. He quickly fixed his eyes away from his hand to the girl in front of him.

Reiko laughed exorbitantly. "That dagger just now..." She began to speak. "I have instilled into it poison incurable by modern medicine. You are going to _die_ within 40 minutes." She grinned insanely at Ranma's reaction.

"What the hell?" Ranma looked at her, bewildered. The total change in her attitude was shocking. And she just said that he was about to die? That had to be a joke.

"This is no joke, Saotome-san." Reiko spoke his mind. "You are really going to die. What are you going to do about that?" She crossed arms.

"You..." Ranma growled. "You little..." He was starting to shake.

"Yes. Get angry, Saotome-san. The angrier you are, the merrier." Reiko grinned wickedly. "How about we make this interesting?" Reiko's garbs began waving, as if strong wind is passing by.

Strangely enough, Ranma felt no wind strong enough to shake her clothes. It must have been some sort of force emitting from her...

"I have the cure." She stated. "If you entertain me, I'll give it to you. Do you accept?"

"I'll teach you to mess with me." Ranma jumped at her at full speed. Since he was going to die, holding back was not an option.

Ranma sent a series of quick punches at the short girl. Reiko's figure seemed to blur with each punch; his fists were practically going through her. Ranma didn't care and continued to attack relentlessly.

His fist was suddenly within Reiko's grasp. "Interesting." She threw him across the parking lot, but Ranma managed to land back on his feet. "Your speed is impressive, but you are going to need more than that."

"Stupid bitch. Making fun of me?!" Ranma totally lost his reasoning. He proceeded to use his techniques desperately. "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

"Heh." Reiko's chuckles echoed around him as her figure blurred between his fists. "I forgot to tell you; constant rapid movements will shorten your time left."

"Keh." Ranma ignored her words and doubled his efforts. "Mouko Takabisha!!"

"This..." Reiko blinked and took the chi blast head on, sending her into a fence. "So you are able to do this, too." Reiko got back to her feet and smirked. "However, your source is not as impressive as the other."

Ranma didn't know what she was yapping about, but the Mouko Takabisha seemed effective. "Mouko Takabisha!!" Ranma sent another ball of chi her way. He saw her nearly get engulfed by it within one second, but within another, he saw her face centimetres away from him.

"It is my turn." Reiko whispered.

Ranma didn't know what hit him. He found himself airborne with a horrible pain in his stomach. Before he got the chance to react, another sharp pain on his back showed its face, and Ranma found himself sunk into the hard pavement.

Reiko's movements were incredibly fast. It was almost as if she was teleporting around Ranma.

Ranma spit some blood out of his mouth and shakily rose to his feet. His legs were stiff; he could just barely force them to move. Ranma looked around, finding Reiko standing a few metres away in wait. Reiko was blurring again... In fact, the whole world was blurry.

No, that was not her doing. Ranma's eyes were playing tricks on him. "Ugh..." Ranma was starting to feel a nasty headache.

"Marvellous." Reiko exclaimed at Ranma's behaviour. "The poison is showing its effect. I would say you have a few more minutes before your body ceases all movements. You will die shortly afterwards as well."

"Die...?" Ranma's eyes gleamed crazily. Ranma was going to die, and the cure was right in front of him. How could Ranma _die_? He couldn't die! There was no way he was going to die! He was the best, wasn't he?!

Ranma sank to his knees. He was starting to feel weak. His death was imminent. But that was impossible! 'I'm going... going to die? That can't be!' Ranma's mind raced. He was panicking and showed it.

There was no way he would die. Absolutely no way for his death to come now. Ranma always had one last trick up his sleeve, didn't he? Yes, that trick! What was his trick? He just had to have one!

Ranma breathed heavily as he thought of his predicament. He couldn't die. Ranma couldn't die! Ranma didn't want to die...

"I suggest you calm down, boy." Reiko spoke calmly from her spot. "This entire fret is decreasing your time."

Ranma wanted to calm down, but he couldn't. How could he when death was merely a few minutes away?

He then came to a sudden realisation. His trick! He had found it! Yes, he still had that. He still had that... Why hadn't he thought of this before? He still had that...

Finally smirking again, he forced himself back on his feet.

Reiko got excited at the display before her. Ranma had finally stood up again, and he looked confident. "What wonders are you going to show me, boy?"

Ranma responded with only three words. "Umisenken..."

Reiko widened her eyes as the boy simply vanished without a trace. "What on earth..." She couldn't complete her question. Reiko felt a fist crash harshly on her back.

Grabbing her by the shoulder, Ranma twirled her around and sent ten of his best punches right through her forehead and into her skull.

Ranma never gave her the chance to scream. He proceeded to unleash every combo his shaken mind was able to think of.

He sent one last punch to her face, sending her flying into a car.

"That..." Reiko barely got back to her feet. Her face was nearly unrecognisable from the beating. "That... was wonderful... Do it again!"

"Umisen... Ugh!" He lost his strength and went back on the ground. Ranma couldn't move. Was this the end? Had Ranma's last trick failed...? After even breaking that promise... He would not get to live even after using it? He felt sorry for himself; more importantly, he felt sorry for unsealing it in the first place. But if he was going to die anyway, why shouldn't he unseal it...?

"Ah, yes. The poison..." Reiko reasoned. "That was very much to my liking, boy. I am overjoyed." She kneeled in front of the Saotome boy's head. She raised his head by his hair, so that he could face her.

Ranma was surprised at what he saw. Reiko's face was completely restored. There wasn't even a scratch on it, let alone a trace of the previous beating she received.

Reiko suddenly stuck her index finger into his mouth, dropping something into it. "Swallow, if you wish to live." She smiled at the teen.

Ranma obediently did as ordered. Now, once he got better he would...

"I am very glad you have answered my call, boy. You made this all worthwhile." Reiko stood again.

"Eh?" Ranma said intelligently, confused.

"Indeed. It was I who had summoned you here." She smiled. "Should that not be obvious at this point?"

Reiko looked at him for a moment before saying, "It appears that you are mine to claim now, boy." She chuckled cheerfully.

Ranma tried to resist, but he couldn't move.

"Do not worry." Reiko tried to reassure him. "Be grateful. I am going to show you a new world, and I will give you a new life."

"What?" Ranma barely asked, listening to her monologue.

"Yes, I am going to give you new life. You have died as of this moment, and I will show you a new road."

"You're... crazy..." Ranma struggled to speak.

"Hush..." She whispered. "You have been especially selected by me. This is your destiny."

The empty lot was suddenly bathed in blue light.

Ranma looked in awe as a blue sphere emitted into existence above her palm.

"Yes... Meet your new home."

--------------------------------------

To be continued...

--------------------------------------

Author's Notes:

Yes! I finally finished writing this, and I'm very glad to have finally gotten it off my chest.

I realise there are many unexplained things, but I'll get on that later.

Now, what to work on next...

Oh, by the way, a cookie to the first person to guess the reference I used in this chapter. ⌒-⌒/


End file.
